Sewing machine



Sept. 11, 1928.

Wtaces-s 1,683,660 A. EPPLER SEWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. ll, 192s. 1,683,660

A. EPPLER SEWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lime- 0 fi v WW AMM 322% Sept. 11, 1928. 1,683,660

A. EPPLER SEWING MACHINE Filed Dec. 21, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 11, 1926. 1,683,660

A. EPPLER SEWING MACHINE FilSd D60. 21, 1922 4 Sheets-sheet 4 I w l- I i to Patented Sept. 11, 19 28;

UNITED STATES PATENT =o,F-F1ce.

- 7 ANDREW Erma-or LYNN, -MASSAGHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T unrrnn sr'roniimonm .EBY CORPORATION," or rurnnson, NEW J RSEY, A coRPoRA'ri'oN- on NEW messy.

SEWING MACHINE.

-- Application filed December 21,1922. "Serial No. 608,321.

The inventionrclates to machines for attaching; welts' or similar. narrow strips to shoes, and more particularly to the means a i for treating the welt to facilitate its lateral l gbendings about sharp contours such as the toe ofa shoe sole. V

While of more general application the i11 ventijon has been developed and will befurther described in connection with its application to an inseam-sewing machine, such as is used for sewing together the welt', upper 'a-ndinsole ofa weltshoe, for the purpose of slashing that portion of the welt which is laid about the toe of the shoe. In

' embodying the invention in a machine and mechanism of this character mechanism is provided for renderingthe slashing devices active and 'nactive which is adjustable to vary the startof the welt slashing with relation to the throw-mg in of the mechanism.

With this'construction the mechanism may be uniformly renderedactivc upon starting the machine while the start of the slashing may be varied in accordance with the length of the shoe to cause the slashed portion of the welt toregister with thetoe of the shoe being operated on.

a sewing and the startingof the welt slashing devices will depend upon the location of the slashing devices with relation to the stitch forming devices and alsoupon the length of the welt'required toreach from the initial.

end of the seam to the toe. It is preferred to locate the slashing devices at a dlstance in advance of the sewing point corresponding substantially to the length of welt which will reach from the initial end of the seam to the toe when operating on the shorter shoes. In thiscase when operating on the shorter shoes the slashing will start with the sewing or immediately upon rendering active.

the mechanism which renders the slashing devices active and inactive. In operating 4:- on longer shoes, however, the welt slashing will be delayed after this mechanlsm 1s rendered active fora period depending on the increased length ofthe shoe. The mechanism for rendering the slashing devices activeand inactiveis preferably so connected with the starting and stopping devices of the machine I that it will be controlled therethrough and will, therefore, be thrown into and out of op eration to cause the welt to be proper.

l it

only

The interval which. should elapse betweenthe starting of the slashed without any additional care or attBntlOIlOIl the part ofthe operator.

The invention will be understood from the accompany ng drawings in which Fig. 1 is a sldeelevation of an inseam sewing machine to wlnch the preferred form of the invention has been applied,'Fig. 2is; a "sideelevation. partly lIlSGClZlOIl of the -welt slashing mechae nism, Fig. 3 is an elevation looking toward the right in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a plan-view of: the welt slashing mechanism, Fig. 5 is; a de-.

tail plan view of the welt slashing devices, Fig.6 1S a front elevation ofthe vertically.

movable welt supporting uide, Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line 7-'7 Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is,

a. rear elevation of the mechanism for renders.

ing the welt slashing devices active and in.-

active looking toward the left in Fig. 1', and F g. 9 is a sectional elevation on line 9-9, F1548, looking toward the-left.

In the drawings the invention is shownapplied to the sewing machine for attaching a welt and upper to the sole of a welt shoe which is shown and described in PatentNo.

1,260,521, March26, 1918. This machine is. provided w th the usual stitch forming and work feeding devices including a hook needle 2 an awl a; channel guide 6, a looper 8, and a weltgulde 10. The. machine 'isprovided with driving stopping mechanism which may be the same 1n construction as that shown and described in Patent No. 1,099,326, June 9. 1914, and is-controlled from a tread-1e through the rod @12'as. is usual in" this typeof machine. i v

The mechanism for treating'the welt preliminary to its atachment to the shoe consists of welt slashing devices and a mechanis n for renderingthem active andinactive which when thrown into operation causes the welt slashing devices to slash the welt during a predetermined number of stitch forming and work feeding cycles and then to become inactive and to remain so until'the mechanism is again th'rown into operation. The welt slashingdevices. are arranged to act on the welt between the weltguide'lO and the welt guiding and measuring roll '14 and ate distance from-the sewing pointsubstantially equal to the distance from; the heel-breast, or point where the inseam be gins, to the toe portion of the shortest'shoes which are to be sewed upon the machine,

The slashing devices omprise a slashingl.

loo

ously reciprocated from the channel guide actuating cam 28 during the operation of the machine. The welt supporting slide 18 is provided with a support 30 which underlies the Welt and with an overhanging arm 32 which overlies the welt'and holds it on the support; The support may be vertically adjusted for different thicknesses of welt by an adjusting screw 34,the upper end of which is held in engagement with a stud 36 on the slide 18 by" a spring 38, the screw being clamped in adjusted position on the support by the'bolt 40. The outer edge of the welt isheld in engagement with the face of the slide 18 by an edge guide 42 carried by the support 30 and laterally adjustable for different widths of' welt by the adjusting screw 44. The welt is thus guided and held on the slide 18 so that it is moved into and out of the path of the slashing knife which cuts toward the outer ed e of the welt and against the face of the s lide. v g

The mechanism for raising and lowering the welt supporting slide to render the welt U slashing devicesactive and inactive com prises a cam 46 mounted on a fixed stud 48 at the back of the machine and engaging a roll at the upper end of a lever 50 whichis secured to the outer end of a rock shaft 52. The inner end of the rock shaft is provided with an arm 54 which isfconnected by. a link 56 with a lever 58, theforward end of which is connected through tog le links 60 with the slide 18'. The lever 50 is old in engagementwith the cam by the spring 62 acting on a collar 64 secured to the link-56, and backlash between the lower end of the link and the lever 58 is prevented by the spring 66 which holds the pin 68 on the lever, through which the link passes, firmlyin engagement with a collar 7 O 'on thelink. The position of the welt with relation to theslashing knife is, therefore, accurately controlled bythe cam 46. When the lever 50 is in engagement with the high part of the cam, as indicated in Fig.1, the welt will be held in the path of the knife 16 so thatthe knife will act to slash the welt and whenfthe' lever rides off of the high part of the cam the welt will be lowered out of the path of the knife and the slashing of the welt v 5 will cease. v

The mechanism for rotating the cam 46 is thrown into 0 eration fromthe rod 12 in starting the mac iine and comprises a ratchet wheel 7 2 loosely mounted on the stud 48 and so connected with the cam 46 that the cam may be adjusted to vary the initial position of its high part with relation to the end of the lever 50.. This connection, as. shown, comprises a pin 74 passing through a hole in the cam and held in engagement with one of a series of holes 76 in the ratchet wheel by a ing cam 28 so that the pawl is continuously reciprocated during the operation of the machine. The rock shaft 84 is provided with a pawl controlling lever 90, one end of which engaged by a spring 92 tending to hold the pawl in engagement with the ratchet wheel, and the other end of which is arranged to overlie an arm 94 secured to a shaft 96 which also carries a stop pawl 98 for engaging the ratchet wheel and normally preventing the reverse rotation thereof; The initial or nor mal position of the ratchet wheel and 02111146 is determined by a stop 100 secured to the ratchet wheel and held in engagement with a fixed stop 102 by a spiral spring 104, one

end of which is secured to the bearing for the stud 48, and the other end of which is secured to the ratchet wheel.

When the machine is started by depressing the starting trcadle and drawing the rod 12 downward the pawls 82 and 98 engage the ion teeth of the ratchet wheel and advance the ratchet wheel and cam 46 against the tension of the spring 104 until the pawl 82 rides onto the blank surface 80 when forward movement of the ratchet wheel and cam ceases and these parts are held stationary by the stop pawl 98; During this partial rotation of the ratchet wheel'and cam'the end of the lever 50 rides on the high part of the cam so that the welt slashing devices are active to slash the welt during a period depending upon the length of the high part of the cam, after which the end of the lever rides oil the high part of the cam and the slashing ceases. The parts remain in this position with the slashing devices inactive and with the cam 46 in its advance position until the machine is stopped by the release of the treadle and the upward movement of the rod 12. At this time the pawls 98 and 82 are lifted out of engagement with the ratchet wheel so that the wheel and I attached cam 46 are returned to initial position bythe spring 104. For this purpose a rod 106 is arranged to engage and lift the arm 94 and the lower end of the rod is connected with an arm 108 secured to one end of a rock shaft 110, the other end of which carries anarm 112 connected with the rod 12 by collars cnmanmo 114 secured to the rod andengaging opposite sides ofthe arm. When the rod 12 rises upon the release of the .treadle the arms 112 and 108 are rocked to raise the, rod 106 so that its upper end lifts the arms 90 and 94, thus lifting the pawls 98 and 82and disengaging them from the ratchet wheel so thatit may return to initial position.

In operating upon the shorter shoes the cam 46 is adjusted as indicated in Fig. 1' so that the end of the lever 50 engages the'forward end of the high part on the cam. With this adjustment the slashing'of the welt begins when the machine is started and continues for 'a predetermined period determined by the length of the high part of the cam. In

operating upon shoeswhich are considerably until the sewing and feeding ofthe welt has continued sufiicientlyto draw the extra length of welt pastthe slashing devices, afterwhich the high part of "the cam will engage the end of the lever to start the slashing which will continue during the-period measured by the l-engthof the high partof the cam. When still longer shoes are to be sewed the cam 46 may be again shifted to increase the distance between the endof the lever 50 and the forward end of the ca1=n46 and thus increase the interval during which the slashingdevices remain idle after the machine has been started and the cam and ratchet wheel rendered active. It has been found that threeadjustments ofthe camwill take care of alil sizes of shoes. The adjustment of the cammay be indicated by figuressuch' as 3, 6 and .9 shown in Fig. 1 which by adjustment of the camarel brought into register with the up er end of a finger 116 secured to the end of t e stud 48.

It is occasionally necessary, as for instance upon the breaking of the thread, to stop and restart, the machineduring the sewing of a f shoe. In such owe the slashing devices should not be rendered operative 'in re-s'talt ing the machineland means is therefore provided through which the operator may render inoperative the mechanism for throwing the slashing devices into operation upon starting the machine. In the. construction shown this means comprises the togglelevers which connect the end of the lever '58with the welt supporting slide 18. -When these levers are straightened, as indicated in Fig. 2, the moveinents given to the lever 58 by the cam 46'are transmitted to the slide '18 as already de scribed. In case the operator wishes to an der. the zn'iechanism inoperative he breaks the toggle formed by the levers 60 so that the movement ofthe lever 58 will not raise the.

welt into the path of the slashing knife. When the mechanism is to be again rendered active the toggle is returned to normal straightened condition. To enable the toggle links to be conveniently broken and straight cued one of them is provided with a r j g th ing handle 118. y

While it is preferred to employ the specificconstruction and arrangement of parts shown and described in applying the invention to an inseam sewing machine of the type shown in the patent referred tokit'will be understood that this construction and arrangement is not,

essential to the broader features of the in vention and may be varied or modified as found desirable or best suited to the construct-ion and mode of operation of the machine to which it is to be applied;

What isclaimed is: l

1. A machine for attaching welts having, in

combination, welt attaching mechanism, welt treating mechanism; for-operating on the welt for a llIllltBCl period during the operation of the welt attaching mechanism, means. controlled by the starting of the machine for rendering the welt treating mechanism active,-

fand means for varying the start of the welt treating period with relation to the start of thewelt attaching. v

2. A machine for, attaching welts having,

in combination, welt attaching mechanism,

welt treating devices, mechanism for causing said devices to treat the welt for a limited period during the welt attaching, means controlled by the starting of the machine for rendering the said-latter. mechanism active,"

and means for varying the start of the welt treatment with 'relationto the start ofthe welt attaching.

3. A machine for attaching welts having,

in combination, welt attachingmeanaiwelt:

treating devices, andmechanismjfor causing said devices to'treat the welt for alnnited period during the welt'attachingadj ustable to vary the start of: the welt treating with relation to the start of saidmechanism.

4. A machine for attaching welts having,

in combination, welt attaching means, welt treating devices, mechanism for causing said devices to treat the welt for alimited period during the welt attaching adj ust-a'ble to vary the start of the welt treating with relation to the start of said mechanism, and means actmg to render said mechanism active in starting the machine.

. 5. A machine for attaching welts having,

in'combination, welt attachingmeans, welt treating devices, and controllingmechanism 1 therefor and means controlled by the start-- ing of the machine for throwing said mach:

anism into operation and adjustable to vary the start of the welt treating with relation to the start of'the welt attaching.

6. A machine for attaching welts to shoes having, in combination, welt attaching means, welt treating devices, mechanism for controlling said devices to treat the portion of the welt that is to be laid about the toe while the forward end of the welt is being attached having provision for adiustment to vary the start of the welt treating with relation to the start of the welt attaching and means controlled by the starting of the machine for throwing said mechanism into operation. v I J 7; A machine for attaching welts to shoes having, in combination, welt attaching means, welt slashing devices, mechanism for causing the slashing devices to slash the portion of the welt which is to be laid about the toe of the shoe, means whereby the starting of the slashing with relation to the throwing I into operation of said mechanism may be iii varied, and means for controlling the throwing into operation of said mechanism from the starting mechanism of the machine.

8. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, mechanism for slashing that portion'of the welt which registers with the toe of the shoe, means controlled by the starting of the machine for throwing said mechanism into operation, and means whereby the start of the slashing may be varied in accordance with the length of welt between the initial end of the seam and the toe of the shoe to be operated upon. y

9. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt slashing devices, and mechanism for causing said devices to slash a predetermined length of welt adjustable to vary the start of the slashing with relation to the throwing into operation of said mechanism. a

10. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, welt slashing devices, mechanism for'eausing said slashing devices to slash a predetermined length of welt adjustable to vary the start of the slashing with relation to the throwing into operation of said mechanism, and means for throwing said mechanism into operation in starting the machine.

11. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a reciprocating welt slashing-knife in advance of the stitch forming devices, and means controlled by the starting of the machine for moving the welt into and out of the path of the knife to cause the welt to be slashed during certain stitch forming cycles and to remain unslashed during other stitch forming cycles.

12. A welt sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, means for slashing a welt in advance of the stitch forming devices comprising a reciprocating welt stitch forming devices, and mechanism acting when thrown into operation tomove the welt into the path of the knife and out of said path after a predetermined period.

1 1. A machine for attaching welts having, in combination, welt attaching devices, welt treating mechanism acting when thrown into operation to treat the welt for a limited period during the operation of the welt attaching means, means controlled by the stnrting of the machine for throwing-said mech- I anism into operation, and means under the control of the operator for permitting the machine to be started without throwing said mechanism into operation.

15. 'A machine for attaching welts having, in combination, welt attaching means, welt treating devices, a cam for rendering the said devices active and inactive, actuating means for the cam, and means for varying the initial position of the camto vary the timing of the welt treating period with relation to the throwing into operation of the actuating means.

16. A machine for attaching welts having. I

in combination, welt attaching means, welt treating devices, means for actuating the welt treating devices, a timing cam for rendering said devices active and inactive to treat the welt for a limited period during the welt attaching, and actuating means for the cam thrown into operation in starting the machine.- f y 17. A machine for attaching welts having, in combination, welt attaching means, welt treating devicesia timing cam for rendering said devices active and inactive to treat the welt for a limited period during the welt attaching, power operated actuating means for the cam thrown into operation in starting the machine, and means for varying the initial position of the cam. r l

18. A machine for attaching wclts having, in combination, welt attaching means, welt treating devices, a cam for rendering said devices active and inactiveto treatthe welt for a limited period during theopcration of the welt attaching means, poweroperated means rendered active in starting the machine for giving saidcam a partial revolution only during the welt attaching operation, and means rendered active in sto )ping the machine for returning the cam to initial position. a

ion

Ill:

19. A Welt sewing machine having, in

combination, stitch forming devices, means through which the operator controls the starting and stopping of the machine, Welt slashing devices arranged to'slash the Welt in advance of the stitch forming devices, a

camfor rendering said slashing devices active and inactive to slash the Welt for a limited machine and to return the cam to initial posi- V the machine.

tion upon stopping 7 ANDREW EPPLER. 

